1:72 2x Mirage IIIE Régent Papa 70 Ans EC 2/4 La Fayette 1986

Seventy years of the La Fayette escadrille on two machines

The La Fayette escadrille came about in 1916 from volunteers, and so in 1986 it was seventy years old. The tradition was then carried by the fighter group EC 2/4 from Luxeuil, which flew the Mirage IIIE type. For the anniversary two of its aircraft received a commemorative coat with the nickname Regent Papa, and it is exactly this pair that is worked up on the sheet.

How much of that grows in 1:72

The real subject measured 15.03 m in length, and the span of the delta was 8.22 m. After reduction the finished example comes out at 20.9 cm from the point to the exhaust and 11.4 cm across the wing; the height, even with the undercarriage extended, keeps to around 6.2 cm. If you set about both machines at once, reserve a strip roughly a quarter of a meter wide in the display case; a shelf twenty centimeters deep is amply enough for that.

Which kit it fits

The version decides. The letter E means a lengthened nose with the bulb of a Doppler radar under it, so the shapes of the decoration would fit neither the short-nosed IIIC fighter nor the reconnaissance IIIR. In 1:72 the firms Heller and Italeri have long listed this type, and their molds appear in the boxes of other brands as well. Go over the surface with a gloss clear varnish before the work – small lettering settles on a smooth base without silvering.

Before you reach for water

Let the finished paintwork mature for at least a day, so that no soft thinner gets under the film. Cut the individual elements out close to the artwork, soak them only briefly and let them run into position on the damp surface. Add the softener only at the end and only where the artwork lies across rivets or panel grooves.